Family Visits Are Always Fun
by Tall T
Summary: Misery has a bad feeling - again. But this time, it might be more serious than usual. Set during the episode "Sunny Daze".


**Family Visits Are Always Fun**

_A/N: This Ruby Gloom fanfic takes place during the episode _Sunny Daze_. Basically it's that episode from Misery's POV of Misery. Since Misery spent most of it visiting her relatives, this story is also inspired by the episode _I'll be Home for Misery.

_There's probably some confusion regarding how long _Sunny Daze_ actually lasted – You almost got the impression that it was just a few hours. But that's a bit of a stretch. For practical reasons, I'm going to assume that Misery was gone for several days._

***

According to the statistics, there are almost no cloudless, sunny days in Gloomsville. And that's fine by me; I find the sun unpleasant, and besides – as long as I stay in Gloomsville, I know that the weather is not my fault. My presence doesn't make any difference.

I used to think so anyway - Until I left Gloomsville, for the first time, to visit my family.

As I travelled around a lot over the next few days, I noticed it pretty quickly: The bad weather followed me around, even more obviously than it used to. Clearly, I had been staying in Gloomsville for too long. On the plus side, my friends were certain to have some sunny days.

I used to think that would be a "plus side", anyway.

After six days, it was time for my most important visit – second to my mother, of course: My auntie Morose's gothic mansion on the hills outside of Edmonton – which is even further north than Gloomsville. No buses went this far, but I had arranged for my cousin to come and pick me up in her car a few miles down the road. My cousin – who is the daughter of my aunt, and thus my _real_ cousin, as opposed to all the relatives that I refer to as "cousins" out of simplicity – is named Mopey. A banshee's names are usually a pretty good indication of her personality, but Mopey is quite an exception. She's the odd one in our family, always so pleasant and – by our standards – optimistic and cheerful. Auntie Morose hates that, of course, and she especially hates the fact that cousin Mopey's triplet daughters Malice, Myopic and Misbegotten seem to be taking after her in that regard. But the triplets, - the first banshees to have been born in more than a hundred years - are the treasures of the family, and since they have inherited Morose's characteristic olive skin, it's obvious to everyone who they descend from. She only wishes the family resemblance was more than just (literally) skin-deep.

To auntie Morose, being dark and depressive with pathos have always been the natural order of things. She loves everything that is dark and gothic, even more than most of our kind. Her father – and my maternal grandfather – was the fearsome vampire Baron Malevolencour. I've never met him, but those who have, tell me that Morose takes after him. Apparently, the same things happened to him that happens to almost all the men in our family – he sank in quicksand. I once pointed out that sinking into quicksand shouldn't be enough to kill a vampire, since they can't die from choking. Morose replied that "well, then he's probably in the quicksand still, struggling to get out". A disturbing image indeed, although Morose herself seemed eerily calm about it. But that's Morose for you.

In the car, I enjoyed having a normal, upbeat converstaion with Mopey – Especially considering that I had just spent eight hours listening to Malady's detailed description of her recurring gout. Auntie Morose was waiting for us out in the front yard when we arrived. But the moment we opened the backseat of the car, she bit her teeth together and closed her eyes, as if she was preparing for something unpleasant. And she was, from her point of view: Malice, Myopic and Misbegotten came running out and pounced on their beloved grandmother to shower her with hugs and kisses.

It's not that Morose doesn't _love_ her grandchildren – She just doesn't understand why they have to show her so much _affection._

"Children…" Morose growled "Cheerful, playful children. "WHY? **WHY?**"

This emotional outburst did nothing to discourage the triplets. So Mopey clapped her hands in a commandeering way. "All right, kids, enough of that!" she said in a pleasant, jovial tone of voice. "Give your poor grandma a chance to get back on her legs."

Reluctantly, the triplets let go of Morose.

"Yeah, quite enough." Morose added as her daughter helped her up. "Thank you Mopey…"

Morose finally got a close look at Mopey. She clearly didn't approve of her daughter's modern clothing, but didn't mention it. Instead, she said: "At least the children are dressing properly."

Mopey just smiled and nodded. Discussing fashion with her mother was something she had given up on doing of ages ago, as it would only lead to bad vibes. I could relate to that – even though my basis was in fact the exact opposite.

"Nice to see you again, too, mom."

"Mother" Morose automatically corrected her. "I see you remembered to bring Misery along…" She took a long look at me and nodded approvingly, probably at my clothes.

We went inside.

***

"So I hear you moved to Gloomsville.", auntie Morose commented.

I nodded.

"It's a nice place. I went there on tour once. The surroundings…the architecture…the way people dress… Everything is in such a good taste. And it's so thoroughly done, too."

"Yes, it is very nice. In fact, I think this is the first time I've been away ever since I moved there."

"That's probably not a good idea."

The last comment came from Morbid, a relatively young cousin (she's only 275 years old) of a more distant relation than Mopey. I knew that she had come to visit Morose just a few days before us, but I wasn't aware that she was still here. I had been meaning to ask her some questions about her boyfriend Christopher; maybe tonight, I'd get a chance.

Morbid tend to stand out, even in a crowd of Banshees. Not so much because of her trademark scarlet beret, as because she is rather tall. This is due to her human blood. Of course, it's not unusual for a banshee to have human blood – why, even my own father was human. And we always have to looking for males of other species, anyway. But Morbid is unusual in the sense that she comes from many generations of only human males. Most banshees have some elf, fairy, vampire, or werewolf blood in our veins as well. Human genes are weak compared to ours, but after many consecutive generations, they are beginning to show.

"How so, Morbid" I asked her.

"Misfortune must be spread, or you'll upset the balance. Upset it too much, and good fortune will in fact turn into bad fortune."

For a while I just stared at her, and blinked in confusion.

"That's too cryptic, even for me!" Morose snapped.

Mopey snickered. "Yeah, maybe we should be change the subject to something we can all understand.", she suggested. "Did you bring slides from Gloomsville, Misery?"

"Of course."

Morose used a firefly-driven slide machine, of the same exclusive-to-banshees patent that I am using every time I show family photos to my friends in Gloomsville. Only this time it was the other way around – I was showing my family slides of my friends in Gloomsville, and of the town itself. Mopey and her kids watched with enthusiasm, and Morose and Morbid were watching with interest. When you've been alive for a few centuries, almost anything that helps passing time seems interesting. Mopey especially liked my stories about Ruby, and took notice of her close-ups.

"I love what she's done to her hair" she suddenly commented at one point. "Maybe I'll try to set up my own hair like that." She went over to a mirror and started picking on her hair. Morose groaned and muttered under her breath. "It won't take much dye to get the colour right", Mopey continued. Mopey's hair was maroon, a trait that she had inherited from her Elven father, and which she had passed on to her daughters.

As I tried to imagine Mopey with Ruby's hair, I suddenly began feeling dizzy. I picked up a chair and did the rest of the slide show sitting down. That helped. But as soon as I had run out of slides, and got up again, this uneasy feeling came back to me. And apparently, it showed:

"Are you okay, Ruby?" Mopey asked me, concerned.

"Yes, I think so. Just a little dizzy. But that just happens to our kind, sometimes."

"True, but it happens for a reason." Morbid commented.

"What do you mean now?" I asked, looking at Morbid.

"Morose told me that you've been trying to hone your extra senses."

"That's true."

"I think thoses senses are trying to tell you something."

I blinked and scratched my head.

"I've been spending several years honing _my_ extra senses, and I know from experience that when they're trying to tell you something, you'd better pay attention to it."

"I'll try, if I can only regain my concentration."

"Well, it's hard to concentrate on anything in this racket", Morose commented, referring to Malcie, Myopic and Misbegotten. Now that the slide show was over, there was nothing to distract them with, and they were running around in Morose's huge living room, running, playing and giggling themselves silly.

"Kids!" Morose said loudly "Why don't you go up in the attic and play?"

This suggestion was met with an unison "YAY!" from the triplets, who immedietely ran up the stairs.

I smiled overbearingly at auntie Morose, because I knew that she didn't really send the triplets up to the attic to help me concentrate. She just wanted an excuse to get them out of the living room because their cheerful laughter was making her nervous.

"The attic, mom?" Mopey said with a giggle. "You hardly ever allow anyone up there!"

"Mother" Morose automatically corrected her. "And well…it's no big deal, really. There's nothing there but old books and some priceless, ancient Atlantean sculptures…"

_CRASH!_

_"Look at what yoooou did!"_

_"It was you!"_

_"Nuh huh!"_

_"Was too!"_

"Oh, and I'm letting Black Shuck stay up there. But he's nothing that even a brood of our kind can't handle."

_"Ooh, a doggy!"_

_"It's so cute!"_

_"Here, doggy!"_

A noise of running feet, dog yelps and little girls' giggling suggested that the triplets were currently chasing Black Shuck, the Demon Dog of East Anglia, around the attic.

Mopey snickered again.

"Old Shuckie's really lost it, hasn't he? I remember that when I was at their age, that dog scared me off my senses…. for a few minutes, anyway."

At this point, I began feeling wobbly again. Morose and Mopey probably didn't notice, but Morbid immediately walked over to me.

"Is it that same feeling again?" she asked with a dark voice.

"Yes.." I muttered. "And it's getting stronger..."

"What's it trying to tell you?"

For a moment, I snapped out of it, and looked at Morbid, confused.

"What do you mean? It's not trying to tell me anything in particular..."

"It does, if you pay attention. Don't let yourself be distracted. Listen to it."

Morose and Mopey had obviously heard her, because they stopped talking. Everything went quiet, except for the faint chatter and laughter from the attic.

I sat down, closed my eyes, and breathed deeply.

"Ruby and Skull Boy... they're in trouble..." I suddenly said after a minute or so. I had no idea how I suddenly knew that; I didn't have a vision in my mind or anything. Suddenly I just knew. Suddenly, I just knew a lot. "In fact, they're all in trouble. Gloomsville itself is at risk... and it's all because I didn't watch the balance."

"It's like I said!" Morbid butted in.

"I'm still not sure if I fully understand that, Morbid. But I think I will."

I got up again.

"Mopey... auntie Morose... I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave right away. My friends' life and health may depend on me going back to Gloomsville right now!"

Mopey looked a bit confused, but auntie Morose nodded seriously at me, and gave Mopey an "I'll explain it later" look.

***

"I really hate to cut this visit short, Morbid." I muttered to her in confidence on the way out.

"It wasn't that short. You've been here for several hours.", she pointed out.

"Yes but I didn't get to talk with you."

"What do you mean?"

"I wanted to talk with you about Christopher."

"Ah… I see."

"Not for my own sake, mind you, but for – "

"Ruby's? Yes, I thought that much."

"You… you did?"

Morbid smiled. "Misery, even from simple slides it was easy to see what's going on between Ruby and Skull Boy."

"And what is _not_ going on", I added flatly, "So far."

"Give them time, Misery. They are still mere children."

I scratched my head. "Still, I'd like to know just exactly how you and Christopher managed… I mean, you're the only example I know of…"

"I know, Misery. And I'll get back to you guys, promise. But it's a long story." - She put a hand on my shoulder – "Too long to get into now. Right now it's more important that you go to your friends."

"I'll drive you to the trolley station." Mopey announced. "Mom…Morbid…you stay here and watch the kids."

"WHY? **WHY?**"

Auntie Morose says that all the time, usually randomly. But this time, it's possible that she meant it.

"By the way - it's _mother_!" she added.

"Goodbye, auntie Morose"

Just as I said those last words, I could've sworn that I heard Iris' and Ruby's voices right underneath me.

As I arrived at Gloomsville several hours later, there was a rainstorm. Everything looked normal, really. But as I left the trolley I noticed that the air was unusually warm. I didn't think much about it until I walked in the entrance door, and was immediately pounced by Frank, Len Poe and Scardey, all of whom looked overly enthusiastic to see me.

"Ehmm…thanks" I told them, confused. "What's going on?"

"We missed you, that's what!" the ever perky voice of Ruby told me.

"Hi, Misery!"

"I turned my head slightly, and saw Skull Boy, Ruby and Iris coming up the front yard. For some reason, they were all covered in mud. This didn't seem to bother them the slightest.

My eyes widened "Whoa, have you guys done anything different? You look good."

Without another word, the three of them ran up to the porch. Frank, Len, Poe and Scardey hugged me tightly.

"Why is everybody acting weird?"

"We're just glad you're back." Ruby said.

"Huh. Remind me to go away more often."

Ruby, Iris and Skull Boy all gasped. "NO!" they said in unison, and hugged me as tightly as the rest.

"Eh…okay. I won't, then." I said, mostly to calm them down until I could figure out what this was all about.

***

After a long evening of explanations, which included confusing and probably not entirely reliable inserts from Poe and Len, I began to realize what this was all about. Apparently, in my absence, the sun had suddenly appeared, but it was so hot and strong that staying outdoors in Gloomsville became unbearable. It was obvious to them (and also to me, to be honest) that this was my doing.

Now I had a problem (so what else is new?) - I finally understood what Morbid meant about upsetting the balance. I had been staying in Gloomsville for so long without going away, that in my absence, the forces of the weather was out of control. The sun had become too hot to make up for all the bad weather I brought to Gloomsville while I was here.

I pondered at this the very next day, as I walked around on the mansion's properties. To avoid these kinds of disasters from happening again, I couldn't keep the promise I made yesterday. On the contrary, I had to go away more often, as I first suggested. But how was I going to explain this to my friends? I would have to wait for at least a few days.

And speaking of giving something a little time, I suddenly overheard Skull Boy speaking to Ruby:

"So Ruby? What were you gonna say to me in the cave? You know, before the rain came"

"Yeah what?", Iris seconded.

"Ah, a perfect evening!" I sighed cheerfully as I passed them, trying to act inconspicuous.

"Let's save that story for another sunny day." Ruby answered bemusedly.

_Very funny, Ruby. But that day might come sooner than you know_, I thought to myself and smirked.

For the moment, however, I wasn't going to push neither Ruby nor Skull Boy into anything. Even though they are not immortal, there is still time for them.

After all - If they were dying, I would've known.

THE END

* * *

CREDITS:

Special thanks to Carolyn Hay, who wrote "Sunny Daze", Alan Resnick, who wrote "I'll be Home for Misery", and Misery11, who let me borrow her Ruby Gloom fan character Morbid for this story

All characters appearing are © Nelvana and Mighty Fine, except for Morbid, who is © Misery11

Characters referred to:  
Baron Malevolencour is created by me  
Christopher is created by Misery11  
Black Shuck the Demon Dog is from English folklore.


End file.
